Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1887-12-10

/
tribution-sponge, Dough and Flour.
A disorderly crowd of men. women and
/ children swayed in front of bakery on
East Seventy fifth street the other after
noon. Nearly all carried covered baskets
on their arms Occasionally little fell
low received blow over the head from a
basket for crowding some one older than
| himself
When questioned concerning the cause
of the excitement the proprietor said: 1--WE
supply almost every restaurant in the city
with fresh baked bread. All that is left
over from the preceding day we take back
and give fresh loaf in exchange. When
ii is returned to the bakery we sell il to
these poor people at three cents loaf. 1t
is really more wholesome than when fresh
from the oven and sold at eight cents
loaf The stale bread is always in de-
mand, and we sometimes see lively scenes
around here when the supply is Short
The proprietor then invited the reporter
to spend a night with him in the bakery.
He led the way through aisles of loaf bread
piled six feet high There were all kinds
of bread in these piles, from the long vi
emma and long French baseball bats to the
chubby loaf of rye.
1--WE make thirty two different kinds
and styles of bread, and ten different
styles of rolls, said he. ''They are baked
in six huge ovens, having a capacity of
| 1O, 600 loaves an hour Our reel oven is
the largest and only one of its kind in the
country. 1t is two stories high and about
| thirty feet square. 1t contains a large
| turbine wheel, on which the kneaded
dough is placed. AS the wheel revolves
the bread remains upright. Twelve hun
dred loaves are baked in this huge oven
every forty-five minutes.
| In the basement of the bakery clouds Of
| flour dust nearly choked the spectator.
The forms of busy men, arrayed in white,
could be seen through it, Over the long
| troughs the workmen were leaning, dash
| ing the flour to and fro. and mixing the
| dry with the wet four until all in the
trough was pure dough Caldrons of fer
ment stood ready to make stock yeast.
| Sponge into dough was converted and the
loaf was ready to bake.
| After being baked the loaves were piled
in such manner that they could be easily
| counted by two men who began work at
Up. III. and worked all night. These men
| fill the orders of the drivers, who deliver
| to thD customers early in the morning.
At IL D. m. the men were re-enforced
by ten more bakers. The rapidity with
which flour was changed into dough was
surprising. Barrel after barrel was turned
into the long troughs and quickly handed
over to the men ut the oven, who took
charge of it until it was ready for baking.
| Each of the forty men in the establish
ment works eleven hours only. Some
work during the day one week and at
night the following week. Bench men
are paid $14 per week and oven men $17
per week. The place is never idle and
the fires are never drawn. Nothing short
of an earthquake could check the current
of the staff of life which flows from the
bakery.
About forty-five barrels of flour are
Used daily. The empty barrels are headed
up and sold to cOopers for 20 cents apiece.
s'Over 1850 loaves OF rye bread day
are baked here, said the proprietor. at
took two years of experimenting to pro-
duce the right favored rye bread, but to-
day we make the handsomest fifteen inch,
two pound loaf you ever laid your eyes
upon.n
''Do you supply familiesg'' asked the
writer.
mot directly" was the reply. ''Fami-
| lies now buy their bread from grocery
stores, and we supply the grocer There
is no money supplying families direct, and
the bakers who have tried it have failed.
Our wagons carry from 500 to 800 loaves
a trip, which they deliver inside Of two
hours. 1t would take day and half to
deliver that number at private houses"
What is your head yeast or ferment?"
asked the writer.
Head yeast is the source from which
ferment is obtained for making stock
yeast. The ingredients of head yeast are
r.o7f nd Tar ura1 hoe
are the only ingredients we use, although
some use porter and sugar instead of malt.
Great care is taken in the making of yeast,
and none but the oldest and best glutin-
ous flour ought to be used. Weak flour
wonld produce feeble yeast, and unsatis-
factory bread would be the result
ssStock yeast is so called, - he continued,
ssbecause it is the stock or supply of yeast
used in making the sponge. It is simply
q continuation Of the ferment. Potato fer
| ment is also used by us. Its ingredients
are -four, water, head yeast and potatoes.
The bread made with it will not dry out
as quickly as bread made with yeast.
Bread ordinarily weighs five-sixteenths
heavier than the flour il contains, the ex-
cess being water.
ssThe sponge is a mixture of flour,
water and a fermenting substance OF some
/ kind. When mixed with the dough 1t
ferments the entire mass, rendering it
porous, spongy and elastic. Sponge is
also made to test the fermenting quality
of the yeast without using all the -four. To
make the dough you work the sponge with
such quantities of -four, water and salt as
win give the proper consistency to the
baked bread. If the dough is too thin the
| gas win escape too rapidly, the raising
viii subside too early and the bread will
be damp, heavy and sour to taste and
smell. II the dough is too dry-that is,
&c too little water has been used-the fer
mentaffon viii be slow. II too slow It
may turn sour.
EVERY kind Of -four requires treat
mept peculiar to itself to give the best re-
suits. We often waste large quantities Of
It in experimenting. The very best Quali-
/ ties Of Hour often fail TO make good bread
when insufIiciently kneaded, because the
water IS too slow TO combine with t.
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